Siquijor Rep. Rav Rocamora is asking Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald M. dela Rosa to conduct thorough investigation on other cases of “tokhang-for-ransom” which do not only victimize foreign nationals but also ordinary Filipinos.
Rocamora said Dela Rosa should prove that he is sincere in cleaning up the PNP as an institution after the murder of a South Korean businessman inside the PNP national headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
“It is an opportune moment for PNP chief Dela Rosa to redeem himself in light of the very embarrassing circumstances surrounding the murder of Jee Ick Joo. I hope his feelings of shame over what happened to Mr. Jee will motivate him to do a massive clean-up of the police force. I am afraid that these cases of tokhang-for-ransom that have surfaced in the past few days are just the tip of the iceberg,” Rocamora said.
He cited possibility that Koreans and Chinese nationals are not the only targets. “Ordinary Filipinos might have also fallen victim to these rogue cops. If we take the complaints of alleged extortion attempts by rogue law enforcers at face value, we get the impression that the targets are mostly foreign nationals. But it might be because they have access to their embassies and can report these illicit activities. We are not certain that among the thousands already killed in the drug war that there are no victims of this modus,” Rocamora said.
Rocamora said rogue police officers are taking advantage of the President’s war on illegal drugs. (Charissa M. Luci)